Privacy Week - Make Privacy A Priority
At Fire and Emergency New Zealand, we deal with a lot of information and data on a daily basis. In our work, we collect, analyse and use personal information to perform our roles and keep our communities safe.
Much of this information is about our people or people in our communities. This means we are responsible for ensuring we protect the information we collect – as not doing so can cause personal distress or even harm Fire and Emergency’s reputation.
This week is Privacy Week. The theme for 2021 is ‘make privacy a priority’. Throughout the week, we’ll be sharing tips on what you can do to help make privacy a priority, including what to do with unsolicited emails, texts and phone calls, checking your privacy settings, and tips on some good habits to you can develop to best protect the information you deal with at work.
Our Chief Legal Advisor and Privacy Officer Sid Wellik says we all have a role to play protecting our people’s personal information.
“From time to time, almost all of us have access to other people’s personal information. Most of the time, it is needed to help us do our work. However, we need to be careful not to share this information with others, unless they need it to do their work. If you’re made aware of someone’s personal information being shared unnecessarily, it may be a breach of privacy. We’re obligated under the Privacy Act to notify the Privacy Commissioner of any privacy breaches that can cause serious harm, so if you think someone’s privacy has been breached, please email me the details, so I can respond to it appropriately.”
We have a dedicated Privacy page on the Portal that covers what privacy means and provides guidance around, what to do if you think someone's privacy has been breached. There’s also information on how to deal with complaints and requests for personal information.
You can access this information, and find out more about our legal team here
You can download Privacy Week posters and other resources for your station via the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website(external link)